A new revelation by scientists at NASA sounded an alarm concerning the alarming decline in global freshwater levels that warned of far-reaching socio-economic and environmental repercussions. From satellites, it seems that the average freshwater stored on land – mainly in lakes, rivers, and aquifers beneath the ground surface – is 1,200 cubic kilometers lower from 2015 to 2023 compared with the average levels recorded between 2002 and 2014. Such a drastic decline has been detected since 2014, marking a serious concern for the reservoirs of water around the world.
Freshwater scarcity is no longer an environmental concern but also a humanitarian crisis. In fact, a report by the UN on water stress earlier this year seriously emphasized the dire consequences of dwindling water resources. A decline in available freshwater may soon lead to poverty, famine, and social conflict, not to mention growing health risks. Communities lack easy access to clean water resorting to contaminated sources, which then sharply increases the risk of having waterborne diseases.
The issues of scarcity of water formed a focus point at this ongoing COP29 summit. Several events have lined up for discussion across the week to highlight the urgency of the critical issue and identify collaborative and integrated solutions. Tomorrow, regional cooperation will figure as a pivotal element in accelerating climate action regarding water, energy, food, and ecosystems, and such dialogues aim to display how interlinked these resources are, along with the significance of unified strategies to handle them in an environmentally friendly way.
Thursday will focus on two landmark water-centered activities: How countries can integrate aspects of water management into climate action plans, in short, put the principle of water at the heart of responses to climate change. Water Declaration will be adopted-the call to integrate approaches to combating causes as well as consequences of climate change on the water basin and its ecosystems. It underlines the importance of continuing water support for ecosystems and human livelihoods, thus calling for a global community to protect this rather essential resource.
As climate change continues to modify hydrological systems, the need to take immediate and collective steps toward solving the problem of freshwater scarcity has never been more critical. COP29 is an opportunity to call upon world leaders to commit to real change for the protection of water resources for generations into the future. Without such immediate intervention, water scarcity may spiral into a global crisis risking loss of lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems worldwide.